Exit polls positive on BJP, negative on Cong; but on social media, all parties go neutral

The sentiment for BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party has interestingly turned neutral after the polling.

The polling for the 2014 General Elections is over and the exit polls are out, suggesting the arrival of Narendra Modi in Delhi. However, the actual results will be known only on May 16, when the counting of votes are held. Amid these speculations and assumptions, an interesting trend has emerged on the social media.

According to The Indian Express Election Tracker, powered by Konnect Social, the sentiment for three parties – Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party – has interestingly turned neutral after the polling.

Ahead of the counting, the neutral sentiment for the parties across social media is as high as 95.1 per cent, followed by negative at 4.1 per cent. The positive sentiments for the most popular parties on social media is as low as 0.8 per cent.

The trend – from May 7 to May 12 – on the chart suggests that neutral sentiment, which was high towards the end of the polling has taken over completely, as against positive and negative sentiments. While on May 7, when the polling for eighth phase of Lok Sabha polls were held, the neutral sentiment across social media was 256, that on May 12, when the last phase was held, it was 225. But interestingly, no positive or negative sentiment can be seen on the chart on the last day of voting.

The trend suggests two possibilities. One, that probably the parties themselves were actively involved and used the social media as an effective tool for campaigning; and second, that the users have chosen to keep their opinions with themselves before the actual results are out.

With the changing trend, it would be interesting to see which way the social media wind blows on May 16, when the fate of the parties would be revealed to the country.